Last Sunday’s newspaper had a shocking revelation about poverty in Brazil. First, let me tell you a bit about our currency, so you have an idea of numbers. One real (hey-ahl) is equal to about USD $0.61. The minimum wage in Brazil is R$545/month. That’s USD $334.
Could you live on $334 per month? I don’t think I could. Not here, not there, not anywhere.
The newspaper article basically had percentages of the households in Brazil, per state, and for the entire country, that had no income, less than one minimum wage, two minimum wages, three, four, and more than five minimum wages as income. In all of Brazil, 5.1% of the population makes more than 5 minimum wages, or, roughly USD $1671/month. That’s the TOP 5% of the population of the entire country!! That’s not even that much money… But in the DF (Distrito Federal, the “state” that Brasilia is located in) 19% of the population makes more than 5 minimum wages.
Wait, so what you’re saying is??
Out of all of Brazil, only 5.1% of the population makes more than $1671/month, and in the DF, a relatively small region, that number jumps to 19% of the population. We live in a bubble here!
Poverty is so widespread in Brazil. We talk about Africa and development in Africa, when, in reality, parts of the northeast, are suffering under a huge burden of poverty that the politicians in Brasilia never see.
Just so you have an idea, my monthly salary alone is about 3 minimum wages, and my husband’s is more than mine, even on a bad month. We’re barely scraping by in Brasilia. Cost of living here is so incredibly high, I don’t want to start on it. But, there are some prices that are national, not regional.
Gas, for instance, costs about USD$6.90/gallon. That’s the national price. What does a poor rural family from the northeast do? Even if they had a car, they wouldn’t be able to fill the gas tank. We spend just under one minimum wage per month on gas alone.
Housing prices, fortunately or unfortunately, vary drastically from state to state. For the price of our small house in the DF, we could rent a mansion in Tocantins (another state… get out your map!). However, we have an incredibly cheap house, but still pay over one minimum wage on rent each month.
What is poverty? It seems to be relative in Brazil. Two minimum wages in the DF wouldn’t cut it. You could maybe buy groceries and pay for a small, dingy apartment. But if you made two minimum wages in Piaui, you’d be rich. But if you went to the US and made only $660, you’d be below poverty level and getting social assistance.
More and more, I feel like I’m not just to stay in Brasilia, but we’re to take our vision for sustainable development other places in Brazil. We have friends who want to take projects up to Maranhao, I’m thinking here “Count me in!” but don’t know if that will work. I’d love to do something about the great gaps in wealth and poverty here in Brazil. I’d love to teach people how to sustainably get above poverty level and raise their living standard to human levels. Let’s see where it goes!
